CAMBRIDGE NEWS | 1
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 22, 2024
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Parking: it’s chaos, pain By Mary Anne Gill
If the answer to Cambridge’s parking crisis is to build a car park building, then be prepared to pay for parking right through the central business district. That was the message from Waipā Transport manager Bryan Hudson at a packed Chamber of Commerce-organised parking workshop last week. Chaos and growing pains are how chamber chief executive Kelly Bouzaid described the current Cambridge parking situation with projects like the Town Hall Clock, Cambridge Pathway in Wilson and Duke streets and power company upgrades now underway. Sixty two car parks are gone from the CBD as a result. The narrative in Cambridge six years ago was retail rotation with businesses asking for more parking enforcement, which they got, she said. But now, while there are 3000 public car parks in the CBD, the town had more than 3000 workers – many travelling from around the region - using those at the expense of customers, she said. One meeting attendee said that would result in people shopping at The Base in
Hamilton which has free parking and choice. The meeting endorsed Bouzaid’s call for the council to remove no further car parks or change any restricted parking without consultation with the chamber and the business community. “This is now the start of being heard,” she said while urging businesses to provide the chamber with data to help it make a submission to the council’s long term planning. “Parking isn’t going to get any easier. It is likely new or expanded businesses will develop over land that is currently used for private parking and the national rule changes mean there are no minimum parking requirements, so the pressure is just going to happen.” But building a car parking building for $40,000 per car space above ground and $100,000 below ground, would be “extremely expensive” to build and run, said Hudson. It was generally only councils that build them because there was not enough return for private investors. “To own one, you’ve got to have that revenue coming in to pay for it, to pay off the loans, to
FEBRUARY 22, 2024
Kelly Bouzaid
pay off that operation.” Solutions to getting people out of cars included providing cycleways, walkways and better public transport. “Just be aware when you look at other growing towns or cities, the more parking you put in your CBD or central area, the more congested it becomes. The longer the periods of peak traffic trying to get in and out. All of those things are realities of expanding parking,” he said. Cambridge could become like Hamilton where staff park out of the CBD and either walk in or use the Lime scooters people did not want here.
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The crest of a wave The community might be tired of seeing streets lined with cones – but Mary Anne Gill reports that a teenager’s bright nature has provided some light relief. Motorists might have entered orange cone capital in Wilson and Duke streets in Cambridge unhappy at the weekend, but they left with smiles on their faces thanks to Tamati Katipa. The 17-year-old’s version of the Mana Wave while guiding cars through the cones was a welcome respite for drivers as workers continued construction on the Cambridge Pathway. Waipā council should consider recruiting Katipa full time as community outrage continued unabated last week. Hamilton Road from Grey to Bryce St path is complete and work is now progressing in Bryce, Wilson and Duke streets. The west-bound lane of Duke Street (travelling towards Victoria Street), between Dick and Wilson streets was closed for two days while workers completed the roadside kerb and channelling. Another contractor will soon start building the raised boardwalk along the narrow section of Duke Street. This will mean restricting traffic and creating detours for some traffic during the boardwalk build until mid-May. Meanwhile results of an online survey which ended on Saturday run by the Waipā Ratepayers and Renters group has found dissatisfaction with the Cambridge Pathway project. Sources say the scientific validity of the survey has been called into question by the council. Mayor Susan O’Regan, deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk, some councillors and staff reportedly received emails saying they had
Tamati Katipa in action on the Cambridge Pathway project. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
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completed it when they did not. Organiser Brenda Stamp told group members everyone who submitted the survey would have their names kept private. “Apart from myself only one other person will see the completed surveys as he is the person who will be collating the data,” she told the group. Lack of consultation and usage are common themes running through the responses.
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